tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37923633700919660182024-03-12T20:39:50.485-04:00Staying in the Short GrassI love the Game of Golf -- for the sheer pleasure of playing a round, for the mental discipline the game demands, for the lessons I learn every time I take the tee box about staying in the moment, playing the Game -- and living my Life -- with patience, good humor, and dignity, as it is presented to me.Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-14913660413977725082020-03-15T11:55:00.002-04:002020-03-15T11:55:45.963-04:00Golf in the time of a pandemic
My partner, Betty Ligon (left) and me, checking in at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, SC, for the Carolinas Cup, the month before COVID-19 put the lid on our golf competition.
With the the LPGA and PGA seasons suspended and The Masters postponed, my prospects for kicking back and watching the pros fire those stunning approach shots at the pin has dropped to zero. The PLAYERS, the ANA Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-91109134283262577842019-07-26T16:43:00.001-04:002019-07-26T16:43:16.289-04:00The Evian Championship - Cut Day Agonies
Paula Creamer didn't miss the Evian Championship cut, but for her that back nine 5-hole disaster has probably ended her hope for an 8th Solheim Cup appearance.
Paula Creamer brought memories of past glory and dreams of future ones to the Evian Championship first tee on Thursday. She finished with a flourish and slept on the overnight lead. It was a heady beginning to her 13th Evian start Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-49550505905441837762017-04-03T17:57:00.000-04:002017-04-03T17:57:00.731-04:00Rules of Golf vs Sportsmanship: The Sad Case of Lexi Thompson and the LPGA Decision
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It all looked good Sunday afternoon as Lexi Thompson and Suzann Pettersen made the turn at the ANA Inspiration. If I hadn't know it was the LPGA's first Major of the 2017 season I might have assumed the scene was a fast-forward snapshot of the Sunday singles matches at the 2017 Solheim Cup.
Thompson had a slender 2-shot lead and Pettersen was pushing hard. The Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-36532046101730749082017-02-27T09:33:00.001-05:002017-02-27T09:35:29.755-05:00The Politics of Golf, or How Much is Too Much?I honestly don't have any issues with Presidents who play golf. I think golf is a perfectly appropriate way to spend time. It enhances physical and mental health. Simply put, the game of golf adds years to life.
So I was intrigued by this tweet from Kyle Griffin:
Trump's 1st month in office includes:
Golf—25 hrs
Foreign relations—21 hrs
Tweeting—13 hrs
Intel briefings—6 hrshttps://t.co/Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-9607204849504000172017-01-31T20:35:00.002-05:002017-01-31T20:35:30.783-05:00Today I Finally Played Some Real Golf!, Almost
Today I graduated from the driving range to the golf course!
Mary, one of my favorite golf buddies, called a couple of days ago and asked if I was ready to play some golf. The weather has been beautiful - South Carolina winter weather, sunny, in the 60s, not much wind. I've been getting bored with the range, even though I knew my game really isn't up to speed, so we made a date. I told her I Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-20366311548649076242017-01-26T20:51:00.002-05:002017-01-26T20:51:48.086-05:00My New Knee - Back to the Game
If I wanted to keep playing golf, I needed a new knee. This is my report on my first 10 weeks after my knee replacement surgery.
It's been 10 long, painful weeks since I submitted to the inevitable and got a new knee. I've been nursing a worn-out knee with no cartilage for years - the result, I suspect, of bad genes, arthritis and two decades of running, running, and running.
I held off as Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-52918744706745170642017-01-24T21:04:00.001-05:002017-01-24T21:10:18.774-05:00Putting Problems? Try This Drill
If you want to lower your score you need to reduce your number of putts. This is how I did it.
Whether you play golf for bragging rights or money - I confess right here that I play for both - you know as well as I do that half your strokes, more or less, are going to be made with your putter. I don't care if you're a scratch golfer, a bogey golfer, or just one of us who prays to break Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-20795069421938606252016-08-25T19:12:00.001-04:002016-08-25T19:14:42.919-04:00What in the World Happened to My Tee Shot?
The wheels came off my round when I made the turn - where, or where, did my dependable tee shot go?
I was really looking forward to my regular Thursday round this morning. I've been doing some work on my short game - tweaking my bump and run shot, changing a couple of short irons in my bag to get better coverage from 70 to 90 yards out - and was eager to test out the changes on the course.
Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-8176233463620111802016-08-19T13:00:00.000-04:002016-08-19T20:40:49.025-04:00The Olympics and Me
Despite dire predictions and a rough start, golf's return to the Olympic Games has been a glorious success!
I'm a 74-year old jock of mediocre talent. Yet even with these fundamental limitations, I love to compete - on the golf course, in the swimming pool, on a small sailboat, at the bowling alley. It's not in my makeup to play at anything just for the sake of playing. My genes are calibratedBeth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-18818435581438615432016-07-11T14:59:00.000-04:002016-07-11T18:49:32.879-04:00US Women's Open - Did Lang Win or Did Nordqvist Lose?
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Did Brittany Lang with the 71st US Women's Open or did Anna Nordqvist lose it when she grounded her club in that fairway bunker on the 2nd playoff hole? The same question might be asked of others who were battling for the top of the CordeValle leaderboard Sunday afternoon.
The back nine on Sunday at the 71st US Women's Open was packed with drama - much more than Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-46165554874387944342016-07-08T17:01:00.000-04:002016-07-08T21:56:14.694-04:00If Only Life Could Be More Like a Golf Round - A Modest Proposal
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What would life look like if we lived it using the principles that inform our rounds of golf?
I've often thought we could settle most human disputes with a round of golf rather than with guns and bombs - I'll explain how that might work in a later post. I've even considered the viability of substituting a round or two of golf for those political debates that Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-20724558070101294572015-05-05T09:35:00.000-04:002015-05-05T09:35:11.421-04:00The Salas Effect
Brittany Lang, Brittany Lincicome, Stacy Lewis, Brooke Pancake, Lizette Salas, & Jennifer Song ready for the Women's Health Classic Pro-Am at Stony Point.
The Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women's Health Classic is in full swing at The Links at Stoney Point even though the tournament action is still three days away. The topiaries that will reappear at the Festival of Flowers inBeth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-72067544104331177072015-04-24T08:57:00.000-04:002015-04-24T08:57:20.214-04:00I'm Taking That One Home With Me!
My golf game has been up and down recently. The grass is growing again and because I'm hitting off almost fluffy green stuff rather than dry, dormant brown stuff I've finally stopped skulling my chips and my trusty flop shot has returned but, of course, there are other issues. Golf is sort of like marriage -- while I tweak it over here, something else tends to pop out over there andBeth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-30896032209363294952015-04-17T20:58:00.001-04:002015-05-05T11:31:42.159-04:00Golf and Character: My Take on Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth's Thank You Note
This thank you note from 15-year old Jordan Spieth rolled across my Facebook page recently. It says much about the character of its author and also suggest much about the sport he loves.
I've long believed that because of its nature the game of golf provides a lens through which the interior character of individual golfers is revealed. Even in team Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-57389139220326397342015-02-06T09:57:00.000-05:002015-02-06T09:57:08.833-05:00Deactivated or Finished?
Tiger Woods, Deactivated or Finished?
Is this about Tiger, or is it about something bigger than any individual? The latter, I think. This is about why we do what we do, in work and in play, about who and what we choose to represent our ideals, and about how we manage tarnished images. It might also be about how we know when it's time to refocus our physical and mental Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-11181508389744606612015-01-24T17:34:00.001-05:002015-01-25T17:33:42.592-05:00Winter Golf Blues? Try This!
Has anybody else just about reached the end of their emotional rope trying to play golf on dormant grass, no grass, even mud? I've come close to slitting my wrists more than once over the last month as I've skulled chip after chip and watched my ball perform what would in other circumstances be a stunning imitation of Hans Brinker on his Silver Skates as it zipped across the green, inchesBeth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-74705941483690840092015-01-08T21:51:00.002-05:002015-01-08T22:39:40.778-05:00Golf, Oui -- Jihadis, Non
I generally maintain an impermeable boundary between what I write here and the larger world of war and politics and global epidemics. To be sure, I'm aware of and sensitive to the depths of human misery and suffering forged in those crucibles, but this is a place where I write about the mysteries surrounding the game of golf and, in a compact with my readers, this is a place apart from Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-31044528755263548572015-01-04T07:47:00.002-05:002015-01-04T07:47:53.418-05:00Endings, Beginnings, & A Meditation on the Game of Golf
Alma Barnes, Me & Bonnie Bell (left to right)
Despite the problematic weather I got in my traditional New Year's Eve and New Year's Day rounds again this year. I typically play these two rounds solo and use my time alone on the golf course for some quiet meditation and reflection -- about the year that's passing, about the year that's promising, about how I'm doing managing my life -Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-72630759799073658692014-12-23T05:00:00.000-05:002014-12-23T05:04:56.151-05:00Come On! Let's Just Get In A Quick One!
Wes has dropped in for a quick Christmas visit, tucking me in between a stop in Florida and his Virginia holiday blowout. I had a short list of chores only a son can complete ready for him, and he had a short list of things I needed to help with, including a particularly delicate shopping assignment, but then the sun peeked out. You know what happened!
I heard him coming down the Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-51724082556682055002014-12-20T08:44:00.002-05:002014-12-20T08:48:33.991-05:00It's Cold. It's Raining. It's Saturday. I'm Golfing!
What's with this golf obsession? The weather outside is frightful . . . and I'm planning on teeing off at my usual Saturday morning time. What am I thinking? There are three shopping days remaining until Christmas. My shopping isn't finished! I can't imagine that any other Star Fort Ladies Golf Association members will be teeing it up on this cold, west Saturday Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-38991565423770709722014-12-17T22:54:00.001-05:002015-05-05T11:34:24.726-04:00Why Not Front Page News? Some Thoughts on Ben Martin, Shanshan Feng & Laetitia Beck
Ben Martin's putting clinic at Shriners Hospital fort
Children-Greenville, SC. Photo credit: Scott Chancey,
Greenwood Index-Journal.
As November has segued into December and 2014 begins its rollover into 2015, we've been bombarded with a wave of devastating and horrifying media images ranging from videotaped beheadings to mass protests difficult to distinguish from the freedom marches ofBeth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-62874734717672120602014-12-16T09:06:00.001-05:002014-12-16T09:06:47.273-05:00My Time With Mickey Wright & Harvey Penick, A Guest Post by Sam Adams
Sam Adams, Essentially Golf
I met Sam Adams through the Google+ Golf Community (if you love golf and aren't a member of the Community you're missing an opportunity to connect with others who share your passion) and discovered that while we've never met Sam's living and teaching golf within about 30 miles of my home base. As our conversations unfolded I also discovered that his Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-37196005620623183942014-12-06T12:40:00.003-05:002014-12-06T12:40:31.498-05:00The Golfer's Prayer
Credit: Sandra @slem914
Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-51651813751645716192014-12-04T18:51:00.001-05:002014-12-04T18:51:20.489-05:00The Bethel Wars: Round 3, Wes By 5
ASU Karsten Golf Club, 8th fairway
The fat lady did not sing for me in our final round of the 2014 Thanksgiving edition of the Bethel Wars. David Bates had picked the ASU Karsten Golf Course for our third round. It's a links-style course carved out of the Sonoran Desert and quite frankly I struggled from my first drive to my last putt.
The Gold Canyon Sidewinder and Dinosaur Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3792363370091966018.post-19363861964207508082014-12-03T20:31:00.001-05:002014-12-03T20:31:24.242-05:00The Bethel Wars: Round 2, Mom By 1
On the way to the 1st tee at Dinosaur Mountain
We went back to Gold Canyon Golf Resort and played the Dinosaur Mountain track for our second round. Wes had forewarned me. His knee was ready for action. I had a foreboding of what was in store for me as I watched him warm up on the driving range. He was still limping but he was transferring his weight and his shots were Beth Bethelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12801134895773787834noreply@blogger.com0